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Nifty Thrifty

Hot Pink, Hotter Price

There’s something about hot pink chiffon that makes me feel like a little girl at a tea party a la Eloise.

This Twelfth Street by Cynthia Vincent dress was purchased for a whopping $6 at Monk, as previously mentioned. The belt is actually a Gucci purse strap, thieved from Mommy’s closet. The Guess heels were around $60; the gray tights were $14.

All told, we’ve got an entire outfit - including a designer dress that probs originally cost $200 - for eighty buckaroos. Pretty effing Cheap JAPtastic.

DIY Dallying

DIY Dress, Sewing Optional

I saw this navy shapeless blob of a thing whilst thrifting at Monk the other day, and immediately knew it had potential. A belt turns an XL shirt into a dress - this we know. But what really made me go for it was the material: 100% silk. Oh, and it was five bucks.

Upon trying on and belting the silk blob, I realized it needed at least two inches in length to pass as a dress. Mini doth not mean looking like one’s forgotten to put on pants. I hacked an old patterned shirt into strips wide enough to elongate the blob. I cursed myself for ignoring my mother’s many attempts to teach me how to sew. Then I acquired something magical for the domestically handicapped fashionista. Fabric Glue.

Glue! How blissfully simple! Sticking the extra material onto the silk blob made me feel like a pre-schooler. Like, it was really fun.

Whether or not Aleene’s “OK To Wash-It” Fabric Glue stays true to its name remains to be seen. But I wore the dress to a party mere hours after the glue dried and it held up nicely.

Pictures of my five-dollars-plus-cost-of-glue-silk dress in outfit form to follow, (if it survives the dry cleaners, obvs).

Label Whore

Another Day, Another Six Dollar Dress

Yesterday afternoon, I walked twenty blocks up 5th Avenue in search of Monk; a thrift store deemed better than Beacon’s by some fellow Park Slopers. It’s not. But if you’ve got time to sift through the junk, it certainly has potential.

Now, before I boast about yet another brand-name find at yet another thrift store, I’d like to address some readers who feel I should temper my secondhand finds with more sample sale and/or designer discount fare.

While most JAPtastic brands are heinously overpriced, even I admit that cost often relates to quality. Well-made clothing doesn’t just hold up until its original owner tires of it; it lasts long enough to be re-worn and re-born into the wardrobe of another. I don’t shop at Goodwill, Salvation Army, Beacon’s, et. al because I aim to look like a fifties housewife or a free-lovin flower child. I shop these stores because they offer the greatest deals in fashion, provided you have the time and energy to notice.

I’m well aware that not everyone has hours to spend searching for said deals, which is why I fully support Loehmanns, Filene’s, TJ Maxx, and other established brands-for-less outlets. For the sake of argument, let’s say I have a $150 dress reduced to $60 from Loehmanns and a $150 dress reduced to $6 from Monk - the main difference between the two being that one has its tags on it and one’s a little wrinkly. It is ludicrous for my lifestyle and my budget to shell out $60 when I could spend $6. That doesn’t necessarily mean it’s ludicrous for you. Particularly if you work in an office and need something semi-professional, not something in magenta chiffon.

Long story long, my enthusiasm for thrift stores is really just basic economics (I think). Twelfth Street by Cynthia Vincent dresses usually run from $150 to $400. Unless they’re from Monk, in which case, they’re $6. Six dollars. SIX DOLLARS.

I rest my case.